Utopian Man
by Lisa Lang
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Description
An exquisite historical novel about a remarkable man who chose his own path, charming and scandalizing others in equal measure-the cowinner of the Australian/Vogel Literary AwardIt's the 1880s and Marvellous Melbourne is a lavish and raucous city where anything can happen. Eccentric entrepreneur Edward William Cole is building the sprawling Cole's Book Arcade and filling it with whatever amuses him or supports his favorite causes: a giant squid, a brass band, monkeys, a black man whose skin show more has turned white, a Chinese tea salon, and of course, hundreds of thousands of books. When Edward decides to marry he advertises for a wife in the newspaper, shocking and titillating the whole town. To everyone's surprise he marries his broadsheet bride and the arcade grows into a monumental success. But the 1890s depression hits hard for Melbourne-and Edward-and the death of one of his children leaves him reeling. Grief, corruption, and a beautiful, unscrupulous widow all threaten to derail his singular vision. But it's not until he visits Chinatown one night-and his own deeply suppressed past-that the idealist faces his toughest challenge. This is the vivid, fascinating story of a man who lives life on his own terms, and leaves behind a remarkable legacy. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
An interesting story based on the life of Edward Cole who, in Melbourne in the 1880's, built Cole's Book Arcade - a multi-floor book shop with tea parlour, band performances, an amusement arcade, a fernery and even live monkeys. The book appears to be a fiction version of the author's earlier non-fiction study of Cole and I would really like to read the earlier work as Utopian Man left me with a lot of questions about the amazing Mr Cole. I do remember my mum talking about Cole's Funny Picture Books but I never knew there was a real man with such an intriguing life story - he even advertised in the papers for a wife. The book also paints an interesting picture of Australia at the beginning of the 20th Century, from Federation to the show more growth of the White Australia Policy - fascinating! show less
Lisa does a marvellous job of giving us a glimpse into the heart and soul of one of Melbourne's most under appreciated shop owners.
Did not finish, took too long to get going.
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Published Reviews
added by lucyknows
Author Information
2 Works 68 Members
Awards and Honors
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Utopian Man
- People/Characters
- Edward William Cole
- Important places
- Australia; Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Victoria, Australia
- Dedication
- To W. Turtle, idealist
- First words
- The marmoset runs throught the grass, straight towards the old man in the black suit and top hat.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Talking up to its freedom, or playing it down, or whatever it is that free birds talk about.
- Blurbers
- Kennedy, Cate
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 57
- Popularity
- 536,781
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.13)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 2
- ASINs
- 2
